The present invention refers to the field of self service terminals. More specifically, the invention pertains to such a terminal for processing transaction forms or slips in the banking area. The invention also refers to a method for processing such transaction forms or slips.
The typical processing procedure for transaction forms like checks, deposit/withdrawal slips, transfer and other forms used in the field of banking, today is long, laborious and tedious, requiring one or more days of processing time and many manual processing steps. In addition, since a great number of such forms circulate, and the banks, according to legal provisions, will have to keep these forms for a certain period of time, methods have been developed to take an electronic image of the respective forms. These images (data records) can be stored in a memory instead of xe2x80x9cpiling upxe2x80x9d the original forms, this being cheaper and space-saving. There is also no need to key-in the contents of such a form manually, since the electronic image can be recorded automatically using recognition hard- or software (RECO). Examples for such systems can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,264,808, 5,097,517 and 5,832,463. JP-A-59146373 discloses a slip processor to process speedily and accurately slips by storing necessary data read out of the slips, and providing a means for recognizing the storage data and a means for editing the recognized data by classification.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,758,713, a banking terminal equipment is disclosed for processing transaction slips used in a bank. The equipment comprises an optical read device for which the fields of the data recorded in the transaction slip required to be sent to an upper station are located at a first read position of the slip such that the data of the fields is displayed on a display screen during a read operation on the transaction slip by the optical read device.
Optical reading devices for taking an electronic image of the respective form normally comprise scanners. The form, e.g., a check or the like, is retracted into the scanner and passed along to a xe2x80x9cscan-linexe2x80x9d (CCD-line) where the picture elements are recorded. The transport of the respective form along the scan-line, however, has to be performed using a very constant speed in order to be able to achieve a correct transformation of the original form into picture elements (Image).
The transport of the forms with this accurate speed through the scanner, however, is very susceptible to troubles, especially when using self service machines. This is based on the difference of quality of the forms or slips which cannot be controlled.
The following quality features can be observed in practice:
The form is extremely thin and shows only little stiffness,
The form is extremely thick and stiff,
Two forms are stacked one upon the other, in addition, they may be connected by a perforation,
Two forms are connected by a paper clip or the like,
There is a sticker on the front or back side of the form,
The forms are partially wrinkled or contain xe2x80x9cdog""s earsxe2x80x9d,
The forms are rendered or cracked,
The forms are solid,
The forms show frictional electricity due to the paper used.
These problems are less difficult to handle when not using self service machines since the respective forms will be sorted out by technical personel. However, when using self service machines, these differences in quality lead to many interruptions or breakdowns. In addition to that, damage and/or soiling of the transport rolls as well as the scan-line may occur. Removal is very time-consuming and expensive since it has to be done by skilled workers. In addition, the down-time is economically detrimental.
Taking remedial measures is only possible by using an extremely robust scanners or feeding mechanisms being rarely susceptible to troubles. However, a mechanism being able to transport every medium showing the above mentioned problems securely and with a constant speed through the scanner is either impossible or would be very costly.
It has to be mentioned that the present invention is not only applicable to forms processed in the banking area. It can also be used to process other forms or slips like admission tickets, vouchers, coupons, parcel forms, lottery tickets, voting papers and the like.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a self service terminal for processing transaction forms or slips that is less susceptible to troubles.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a terminal where damage and/or soiling of important parts is avoided.
It is still a further object of the invention to provide a method for processing transaction forms or slips in a self service terminal that avoids the above described problems.
These and other objects and advantages are achieved by the self service terminal disclosed herein and the method disclosed herein.
Advantageous embodiments of the invention are described in the dependent claims.